Cant connect to target

[RoboShift]

I'm a noob to this robotics stuff and I am having problems programming my $50 robot.  I'm trying to use the AVRISP mkII to connect to my ATmega8 and its just not happening.  I have tried using both Pony Prog and AVR Studio4 and both fail to connect even though my status LED is green I saw posts in other threads all around the net about pull up resistors and fuses but they all said to look to the datasheet of the ATmega8.  The datasheet is over 300 pages long and is a little overwhelming for me.  Could they be the problem? How do I check?

Any suggestions?

[airman00]

Are you using a breadboard ? Are you using virtual machines? Did you install the driver needed for the AVRISP ?

[RoboShift]

Not using a breadboard, I built it with the same parts as described in the $50 robot tutorial. I did install the driver and both leds on the avr are green when connected to my laptop and to the target. 

[airman00]

Make sure that your ISP program settings is correct. The ISP frequency has to be lower than 1/4 of your microcontrollers frequency.

What is the exact wording of the error?

[RoboShift]

Hard to tell but both leds are green


whenever I hit connect it just sits for a minute or two then comes back to this

[airman00]

Oh ok I think I understand your issue now .

Two things can be wrong - Didn't install driver correctly or didn't solder the circuit correctly. Make sure the microcontroller is plugged in firmly into its socket.
Verify those two things for me and then get back to me.

[RoboShift]

I triple checked the circuit wiring and even removed everything and put them back together.  Right now I'm trying to start fresh with AVR studio and the driver installation by uninstalling everything. 

[airman00]

what about your battery - is it fully charged ?

[RoboShift]

brand new battery (and yes fully charged)

[RoboShift]

Woooooo Hoooooo  got it working 

After Uninstalling AVR Studio4 v4.13 I installed the new version 4.14 and it seems to be fine now.  I haven't tried doing anything but connecting to the AVR so far but at least I can do that much now.

Thank you for the help 

[RoboShift]

btw..

If any one else runs into this problem dont pull your hair out thinking you screwed up your microcontroller connections because you dont even need to have your AVR connected to it to get this far (now that I'm bald )